UNC Football: Tar Heel Blog’s staff season predictions

Game day is nearly here, which means it’s time for the final guesses about just what kind of year the Tar Heels will have on the field. Can the offense regroup after losing Mitch Trubisky, Ryan Switzer, Mack Hollins, and Bug Howard? Can the defense be leaned on more heavily than they are used to without crumbling under the pressure?

It won’t be long before we know a lot more answers than we do today, but in the mean time, it’s fun to guess. I asked the Tar Heel Blog staff to answer a few questions about what they think this season will hold for Carolina. The answers were, predictably, all over the place.

Here’s how they responded:

Nothing was unanimous, as you might expect. Even the categories that had the most agreement featured some interesting dissenting opinions. Shout out to Jake Lawrence for easily being the most optimistic about the product on the field this season. I’m sure we’d all love for him to end up being right about how the season plays out.

MJ Stewart understandably received a lot of votes for being the Defensive Player of the Year when it is all said and done. The senior looks poised for a huge year. Tomon Fox also got a lot of love as a player to keep an eye on this season.

THB writers predicted that the Heels would finish anywhere from first to fourth in the ACC Coastal with anywhere from a 9-3 to 7-5 record. No one predicted a losing season! Optimism for big wins the Heels can pull off range from another win in the Miami series to taking down the Louisville Cardinals in Kenan Stadium in Week 2.

Miami and Florida State were overwhelming favorites, but not unanimous decisions, for the winners of the Coastal and Atlantic divisions, respectively. Most believed that the Seminoles would beat out the Hurricanes for the ACC crown, but others were able to sneak in a single vote, including UNC. Thank you, Jake.

So that’s how we see the season playing out. As has been the case since the season came to an end last year, no one is really sure how it will play out. Feel free to leave your predictions in the comments below.